SIGH
by the-hippie-whittlers
Summary: NaruHina-With Sasuke back and the destruction of Akatsuki imminent, the lives of Konoha are simple again. But for one increasingly distant Uzumaki Naruto, his perfect bachelor life is about to be ruined in one fell swoop. Hilatrities ensue...
1. Strange Feelings

Welcome to my first all NaruHina fic! Side-pairings included. Some assembly required. Only 5 easy payments of $29.95!! I'M PRACTICALLY GIVING THESE THINGS AWAY, PEOPLE!

**DISCLAIMER:** I'd like to start by saying that I don't own Naruto, and I'm not making any money off this.

**YOU SHOULD KNOW/REMEMBER:** Characters are all 18-20. It's november, so Hinata is about to turn 19 and Naruto has just turned 19. YAY MATH!!

* * *

CHAPTER 1

STRANGE FEELINGS

Hinata sighed. She sighed a great, heaving, lovelorn exasperated, hopeless sigh.

Now, sighing was not uncommon for Hinata. I mean, she was in love, for god's sake! A sweet, sensitive, soft love struck sigh was completely normal, as everyone knew, when the eighteen-year-old young woman thought of the man (then boy) she'd been pinning for since she was eight.

She sighed again. A decade. This man had not released the death grip he had on her heart for a decade.

But the reason that this sighed that she sported today was different from the normal love struck sighs was that it had no hope at all left in it. It was defeated and bleak.

Hinata sat and pondered her situation.

Uzumaki Naruto. She had admired him when they were young, then she got a crush, then an infatuation, then it became a full-blown case of being head-over-heels in love with him. Since he had returned from his training with the late Jiraiya-sama, she hadn't gotten the chance to get closer to him. They had the mission to bring back Sasuke right after they returned, but there were so many people, that it really didn't count.

Of course, after Sasuke had killed Itachi, he was in critical condition. It was the fight of his life, and the fact that he had gone in with considerable damage from his battle with Deidara didn't help. He had just barely won the battle, and was literally pummeled within an inch of his life. It had taken Sakura nine hours to stabilize his condition, and she didn't move from his side the entire time. Not for bathroom breaks, to eat, or sleep. Hinata thought it was a beautiful mark of her devotion to the one she loved.

Of course they brought him home while he was unconscious. It was strange to see his new accomplices stay by his side. The large one named Juugo refused to leave at fist. He explained his… 'Condition' to the group and explained to them how Orochimaru had used him to create the curse seals. He told them of Sasuke's ability to control him while in his bloodthirsty state, and how he feared what would happen to his new comrades if Sasuke should be unable to stop him.

This proved no problem when Juugo went feral on all their asses about halfway through their trip. He had stopped all of the sudden, and gripped his head in pain, attempting to stop the bloodlust coursing through his veins. The distinctive pattern of geometric shapes of the curse seal spread slowly around his body, as he released a soul shattering yell then stopped, panting, as if calculating which of them he would kill first. Hinata actually feared for her life. She was paralyzed with the shear fright that this monster could easily kill her. But suddenly, Naruto decided to defend his friends.

Hinata felt another spike of bloodlust, almost double what was being emitted from Juugo. She spun around to see that it was Naruto, who then jumped to the front of his friends, (and about 2 ft. in front of Hinata) blocking them from Juugo. Surprisingly, Hinata found no fear from this killing intent, even though he now grew fangs and had broader whisker marks on his face. His eyes had catlike, narrow pupils, and were a venomous shade of red instead of the cool blue she adored. He was already completely shrouded in the Kyuubi's cloak, which he had learned to master up to three tails of. All of which were being shown now and waving menacingly, made of glowing translucent crimson chakra like the rest of his body was encased in, bubbling with purple blobs of chakara that oozed from his pores. The amount of raw energy leaking out of him made Hinata shiver in delight. She smiled recollecting this memory.

But, after this display of dominance, Juugo finally calmed down. Hinata was so proud of him for showing control like that.

The perverted and rude one, who they learned was Suigetsu, decided to stay because there was nothing better to do. And he then proceeded to hit on Hinata and Ino the entire trip back to Konoha. Hinata was overjoyed when Naruto stuck up for her and thwarted his attempts by staying between her and Suigetsu the entire time, giving him an intimidating glance every time he tried to start something.

The redhead one named Karin obviously felt Sakura a threat to her affections for Sasuke; she was going to try and win him back. This would prove harder than she expected in the future when Sasuke and Sakura got together almost as soon as he woke up in the hospital.

Hinata giggled as she remembered the scene. Sasuke had finally gotten strong enough to drift back to consciousness, and everyone from the rookie nine had gone to the hospital to greet him. Tsunade had stopped them at his doors and recalled what she had said to them.

Flashback:

"Okay you guys," She started, sternly but happily. "Sasuke is making a strong recovery, mostly thanks to Sakura's efforts, and she's in there right now explaining the situation to him, and trying to get what he wants to do next out of him." Everyone knew what this meant. They wanted to make sure that Sasuke had no intentions of running away again.

"He's going to be in an emotional state, so I want only two other people besides Sakura going in at a time. He has just undergone a full mental evaluation by Ibiki and Ino." Tsunade gestured to Ino, who had apparently been at the hospital before them. "Everything has checked out, and he is completely free from Orochimaru's grasps, and his destructive tendencies and thirst for power are gone as well. Thanks to the death of his brother. He's pretty confused, but happy, right now, so he'll need every one of you to help him realize what's important to him."

Everyone knew what that meant, too. They had to show him the reason to believe in his friends again, and welcome him back to Konoha with open arms.

Tsunade spoke again. "Naruto." Naruto responded to his name. "You should be the first to visit him."

Naruto stepped up to the door and opened it, giving a hopeful smile back to everyone still outside, before shutting the door behind him.

It was a tense few minutes for Hinata. She was scared that they would get into a fight again, and they would be as tense as before. She prayed that Sasuke could repair their friendship. That he would be brave enough, now that his brother was out of the picture, to accept Naruto as a friend.

After a while, Naruto opened the door and stepped out again, smiling. Kiba finally asked, "Hey! What happened in there?"

Naruto contemplated for a while before answering. "Everything's okay. Sakura says you can all see him now."

As everyone pried open the door and poured into the room, Hinata noticed the wise, satisfied look on Naruto's face.

"N-Naruto-kun?" She asked, wondering what it was for. "What are you thinking about?"

Naruto was pulled from his thoughts.

"Oh, It's just amazingly ironic. In a good way." He tried to explain to her. When she responded with a look of confusion, he decided that he had to elaborate. "I mean, how, I had promised Sakura that I would get Sasuke back, remember?"

Hinata nodded, but she felt a tang of pain in her heart. This promise was so important to him. _"What about your promise to me, Naruto? Remember, the one to help my clan and me? Do I take second seat to Sakura still?" _

Naruto, unable to hear this, continued.

"Well, she finally got strong enough to do it herself. I'm happy for her, and proud of her, too. And actually, I'm glad that I didn't bring Sasuke back. I couldn't just do it FOR her, you know? Then she wouldn't have trained so hard to achieve someone that was special to her. I feel like I helped her and Sasuke. It's a weird feeling, and weirder to admit, but, I'm really happy that she finally got him back, and not me. It's the best feeling in the world to know that they're finally together."

They heard a chorus of scandalous 'Ooh's' from the girls inside Sasuke's room, along with the 'get a room!' from Kiba, obviously envious. Hinata and Naruto peered from a distance into the room, and saw them not just kissing, or smooching, or making out, but they were sharing a full-blown case of sucking face. Sasuke had caught her off-guard and had started lightly, but passion for his love had overcome him, and he started licking her lips, and then she opened her mouth and returned the gesture. They basically just started frenching. From an innocent first kiss between true loves, to cannibals: each attempting to devour the other's tongue like it was the last piece of human flesh on earth.

Hinata's mind momentarily shut down. Had she just heard and seen what she thought she had heard and seen? They were together? Like, as in, _together _together? Significant others? An item? PERFECT! Now nothing was distracting Naruto from noticing her subtle hints! And she knew that Naruto had to put 110 percent of his attention into ANYTHING subtle. Well, Sakura was one of her good friends, and she was happy for her, too. She had really worked for Sasuke. It's just that…. It was all too perfect!

Now Naruto pulled Hinata from her thoughts as he continued to speak.

"It's a weird feeling, you know?" He looked kind of confused, and then Hinata realized it.

He didn't really have a family, so he didn't know that there are all different kinds of love. If Naruto was feeling this happy about Sasuke and Sakura, then she knew exactly what kind of protective, nurturing love he was feeling. That he felt for both Sasuke and Sakura.

Hinata explained. "That's brotherly love, Naruto-kun." Naruto stared at her; as if she had just said a 50 ft tall purple polka-dotted fire breathing six-headed horned platypus bear (aka Azula) had crashed through the window. (A/N: ah, the joys of being an avatard… --)

She continued. "Y-You thought that you loved Sakura because you had never had a sister before. If it were the r-romantic type of love, you would probably want to disembowel Sasuke right now, and you wouldn't have let her find her own strength. Y-You would have wanted to do everything FOR her. Neji is basically my brother, and when he trains me, he doesn't just g-give me the answers, Naruto-kun. He let's me learn. A-And Sasuke is like your brother. You fight, and act like you hate each other, but you're inseparable. The three of you. You're like their brother."

A smile spread across Naruto's face. "So it's like you and Neji, ne?" He laughed.

Hinata had a grateful smile on her face. The floor suddenly became very interesting, and her blush deepened. "Well, it became like that a-after you helped him, Naruto-kun." She paused "Arigatou." She added at the end.

Naruto opened his eyes and stared at her. This answer was not what he expected, and he realized that in Hinata's secretive and bitter family, no one really treated anyone well.

He would figure this out later, after a mission protecting a pregnant Kurenai on a well-deserved vacation: He had given her a cousin, ne, a brother, when he had defeated Neji. Neji had become the only person in her family who cared about her as more than the heiress. He cared about the person she was. Needless to say, Kurenai would point out some amazing things about Hinata to him during that week. And some things that she just added to torture his little teenage male mind. But that comes later. You'll see.

But at that time, he also realized that she had just helped him, too. Although not as drastically. Come to think of it…

"Hey, Hinata." She looked up to meet his face with a large blush. "Than you, too. I'm really proud of you. You've really improved with Neji's help, haven't you? You've grown." Hinata grew 10 shades redder than she already was.

This was the best compliment he had ever given her! And he had noticed that she had been working so hard while he was gone! She was so happy she felt like she could just explo-

"I mean that was the longest string of understandable words I've ever heard you say! Good job!"

She face-faulted.

End Flashback

It was both the happiest and most devastating interaction with him she had ever had.

But that wasn't the reason she was sighing. She had a bigger problem in her… relationship (well, hopefully soon to be relationship) with Naruto.

She had been going on missions with him for the past couple of months. The type of missions that were important enough for two jounin, but not as serious as ones assigned to more experienced ones. Yes, there was always action and adventure, but totally in their league. And Naruto still faced them with the determination and enthusiasm of a rookie going on their first lame d-rank mission. He still always managed to help people, teach lessons, enrich lives, and inspire hope in others like a good little protagonist, too.

Hinata had definitely had the time of her life on these missions. They were like pure heaven. They were an escape from her family who would never accept Naruto, or her for that matter, and as much time as she wanted to stare at him while he was sleeping during her turn to keep watch. This activity would obviously be… frowned upon for a lady of her status to do back home, so she reveled in the joy of performing it on missions. It seemed like she just broke the rules on missions. And she wasn't the only one.

Naruto had been earning respect in the village, just from his impeccable reputation as a ninja, but he was amazingly absent from the village almost 71.23 percent of the time. Hinata had been counting. It seemed as though he was still fearful of how the villagers would treat him, and now that he was older, there was a solution. Take missions. Lots and lots of missions. Not only had he established a decent amount of connections to help him live away from home through Jiraiya, he also had clients who were clamoring for his assistance. Word apparently spreads fast about reliable, and amiable, ninja to hire.

So basically his life was outside the village. It astounded her how many people knew him when they walked through even a little hole-in-the-road town. He seemed to know all the good places to stay, and eat, and barter for supplies. Some places he would stop at and sigh. Hinata knew he was remembering when his late teacher had taught him the ins and outs of life on the road. She let him have his moment and always remembered to flash him a stunning optimistic smile when he looked back to her and apologized for the delay.

Which took her to the cause of her sighs.

It seemed as though he also knew more than just the best places to hear about local crime, too. When traveling a distance behind Naruto, Hinata would all too plainly hear the scandalous giggles and idle chatter of tavern wenches and random sluts they passed. They'd gossip and babble such blows to Hinata as, "I told you he's handsome. Uzumaki Naruto is a very respected ninja. And I hear he's amazing in bed, too!" and "You know how well he writes icha-icha. He trained under the sannin Jiraiya, and has clearly surpassed him as both a ninja and a writer. I mean, some of the things he…" and that's where Hinata would shut her ears and wallow in the clear hopelessness of the situation. She was clearly not 'his type' and she didn't want to exacerbate her feelings for him any more in fear of being shot down, and broken to bits.

She now sat at the ramen shop, sighing so deeply she might have well drowned in the heavy air. She listed consequences of this in order of bad to worst: What if she wasn't as pretty as those floozies? What if Naruto one day just never came home to the village? What if he left her all alone without fulfilling his promise to resolve her family situation? What if he became an evil villain without the love of his friends and used Kyuubi's power to enslave humanity and plunge the world into 10,000 years of darkness? What if he already had CHILDREN?!?!

She could feel Naruto leaving the village longer every mission, traveling farther and farther, and she felt that she just couldn't keep improving and growing as fast as he was shrinking into the distance.

(A/N: DAMN YOU MICROSOFT WORD! DOUJUTSU IS NOT DOUGHNUTS AND BYAKUGAN IS NOT BRAKEMAN!!! )

Naruto lay down on his bed and stared upwards. His new, slightly bigger-but still smaller, apartment was dark, save a subtle glow cast from a lonely streetlight through his window and onto the ceiling he was staring at. He gave a semi frustrated, semi exhausted sigh as he closed his eyes to try and stop his racing mind.

The mission had gone very well. Another day saved, and another client satisfied. Now normally, he would have 'caught up' with a few friends before he left for home, but he had finally stopped finding joy in such naïve and frivolous actions. His exhaustion was one part physical, (from running all the way back home in half a day, when it should take 3 times as long) but also 2 parts mental. He was sick and tired of his life. Sure, he was getting a good reputation as a ninja, he was proving his character to his beloved village, he could control 6 tails of the Kyuubi's cloak, he was well on his way to becoming rokudaime hokage, he would get good missions with his good friends, he was still getting stronger and stronger every day, he was getting raving reviews as an author from the group of perverts who read the books he decided to keep writing in memory of Jiraiya, he now had his own fan club, and he was certainly gettin' some (if you know what I mean) because of that. He could have as many one-night-stands as he wanted and never be tied down to a 'relationship'.

So why wouldn't he be happy with what could be called the best bachelor life a guy could ever possibly dream up?

Well, it was the reason that was confusing him. He simply had to rush back to the village every time he left. Ever since a mission he had with Hyuuga Hinata about a month before.

What he knew about her was this:

1) She was the heiress of the prestigious Hyuuga clan of Konoha, with an advanced bloodline doujutsu- the byakugan.

2) She was a very capable fighter, although she lacked the courage to stand up to her family that neglected her.

3) Her family situation was less than desirable. With feuds and backstabbing and kin betraying kin, it was no place for a sweet and very sensitive girl like herself.

4) He had witnessed the cold-blooded battle between her and her cousin, and had fixed one Hyuuga Neji's attitude soon thereafter.

5) And the last thing he knew was that he still had to fulfill his promise to her. He had to make the Hyuuga an accommodating clan to all its members, not just the 'high and mighty' council.

After he had gone on his mission to guard Kurenai while on her maternity leave, he had acquired these little gems of information:

6) He had started on his path to better the Hyuuga clan already. Not only were the feuds between main and branch Hyuugas cooled off after his defeat of Neji, Hinata had also been growing ever stronger, trying to attain her goal (which Kurenai never elaborated upon) with Neji's help. She drew strength from a sibling bond that wasn't founded on competition like that which she had with her younger sister. Naruto had gotten a few steps towards his goal.

7) And apparently, according to Kurenai's 'expert' opinion, Hinata was now a d-cup. (Kurenai had sworn to the Gods that she would stop Hinata from taking off her baggy garments, in fear of putting her fellow woman's bodies to shame. She didn't want any more competition.)

After gathering this information in his mind, he decided to implement the basic relationship-problem solving skills Jiraiya taught him. It was overall the hardest part of his training, but with time, and lots of giant scrolls to the head, he was able to sort through complex personal problems, which didn't involve a battle.

First came the subject. "Well, that one's easy." He thought to himself. "It's obviously Hinata."

Next step: the reaction. How it makes you feel. "Erm…okay then. Well, when I'm around her, my muscles tighten up with anticipation, and my breath becomes shorter, and more like gasps, and my heart rate quickens to get blood to my body. I become flushed and I can feel adrenaline rushing all the way to my fingertips."

With that complete, he moved onto the third step: association. Where has he felt this way before? "Oh! I know!" it clicked. "In BATTLE! When I'm fighting an enemy, all those things happen! Everything! But, I'm still a bit confused." Then he remembered the next step.

The explanation: What had he learned that would justify or give a reason for feeling this way? "Well, if Hinata is causing me to feel stressed like in a battle situation, and when I see her it causes the same reactions as when I'm fighting for my life, that must mean… Oh. My. God. It's so simple, why didn't I see it before? I HATE Hyuuga Hinata! She must be my archrival, and I subconsciously try to put myself into a fight situation where I can tilt with her and best her in battle! This is horrible! How am I supposed to keep my promise and improve the life of my arch nemesis?!"

In his horror and confusion he had failed to proceed to the final step: THE BUILDING OF A SCENARIO. It was where one must put oneself into a variety of situations with said subject of their dilemma, and predict how one would react to them.

Unfortunately, Naruto was too far into the conclusion he had drawn that seemed to fit to notice. He fell soundly asleep with both the disturbing thoughts of hating and helping at the same time, and the happy thoughts of thinking that he was finally starting to understand normal-yet strange human emotion, which he had yet to experience. Well it was true that this was an emotion he had yet to know of, or to be taught of, he was clearly too dense to realize that a human would never want to protect and care for their sworn foe. If only he had remembered the next step, he might have seen how wrong he was.

* * *

**SO NOW THAT YOU'RE APPARENTLY STILL ALIVE:** YOU CAN HELP ME WRITE THIS FIC!

This is my first romance-based fic, also. Definitley looking for constructive critisism. I'm trying to build off the current story by seeing where the current plot is going and taking it further. So if you know of any ways I can make it more manga-accurate, please share!

As of 2/25/08: I have the next chapter almost done, and I have lodsa free time coming up to keep writing!

This looked SO much longer on MS Word... I THOUGHT I HAD CALLIE BEAT! DX Only 2,000 more words in Shenanigans and I'll have done it...shoujo sparkles

**THE LEMON FACTOR:**

If you would like to see a lemon or 10, PLEASE TELL ME! I'm afraid someone might find it, but if demnd calls for it, I SHALL ANSWER!

And if you would like to see SUPER far into the future: I'm also in the process of fabricating a grand epic NaruHina AU entire universe fic. The prologue's written, but that's all I'll say. ;) AND SO HELP ME GOD, IF YOU SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT IZ, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!!


	2. Overdramatic Outing, Awkward Assignment

DISCALIMER:

If you have a weak heart or fragile mental state, STOP READING NOW! The momentary OOC-ness in this chapter may cause sever medical and physiological repercussions.

But if you have a forgiving sense of humor, read on for your enjoyment!

Side effects include nausea, headache, nosebleed, and in rare cases, uncontrollable vomiting. If any of these symptoms occur more than three days, contact a physician immediately. Do not operate machinery while reading this fanfic. Talk to your doctor to see if this fanfic is right for you.

CHAPTER 2

AN OVER-DRAMATIC OUTING AND AN AWKWARD ASSGNMENT

Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha with a purposeful yet apprehensive bounce in his step. He was going to try and enlist his teammates into helping him decide on a course of action for his newly discovered predicament.

Sasuke and Sakura would be waiting at the ramen shop for him, and he was almost sure that they'd know what to do about this strange hybrid hate-help emotion. They had most likely experienced it before, right?

"Well, they did have people to teach them, and 'bonds' that I never had, so they're the experts… I guess."

Naruto pondered as he wove in and out of the Saturday crowds. It seemed that every day, more people would move out of the way for him, or even stop and stare as if they had just seen a ghost. (a/n: he still doesn't know who his parents were.) Well, it would make sense, of course. He was as handsome as his father, with the sunny and fiercely determined personality of his mother. Now almost full-grown, he was 6'3. Just one inch shorter than Sasuke, much to Naruto's distain, but he was convinced that his hair made him look just as tall. (Sasuke and Sakura let him have his 'moment'.) And, since Sasuke and Sakura had 'gone steady' Sasuke's fangirls had recently given up on their mad and fruitless attempts to seduce him out of the relationship.

The less obsessive fangirls (Not the small percent who would commit group suicide if Sasuke so declared they should. And believe you, me. Sasuke was tempted sometimes.) had decided that Naruto was the next in line. And, as they put it, "We needed a switch. And, let's face it: Sasuke sure as hell ain't winnin' no personality contests." So, it was decided that Naruto was now the most wanted, available, man in Konoha. And the ex Sasuke fangirls had nothing to complain about. Why complain about idolizing a man with rock hard abs and chiseled features? It was true. The female population of Konoha realized that Sasuke was a tad to stoic and broody, and FAR to taken by Sakura, to compare to the very amiable and available Naruto.

And the fact that he wrote the highly 'acclaimed' icha icha series definitely didn't hurt.

He took a sharp left into an alley, and flickered over the fence to the other side where his beloved ramen was waiting for him. (And his peeps, too. Let's not forget his homies Sasuke and Sakura. Rollin' with the homies!)

He called to him comrades when he saw their bottom halves from below the stall's curtains situated on two stools. Well actually, it was hard to tell if they were sitting on two separate stools as he got closer. He sweatdropped. They were playing that freaky, entire-leg-grouping version of footsie with each other again. It was hard to tell where one person stopped, and the other began.

He pulled back the drape-like awnings of the ramen stand to find the scene with their upper-halves equally disturbing. But who could blame him? It was weird to see one's almost brother and almost sister practically raping each other is public.

"Ah-hem." He cleared his throat. No response. They were still cooing that 'boyfriend-girlfriend-we-have-no-fucking-idea-that-we're-in-public-so-we're-talking-to-each-other-like-we're-2-year-olds-and-repeating-everything-the-other-says-with-pet-names' language that Naruto observed so many hormonal teens performing nowadays.

They continued to ignore him even after he sat down on the seat on Sasuke's right (Sasuke sat between Naruto and Sakura on Saturdays) and called out his order to Ichiraku. And then proceeded to discuss alternative plans for when Naruto didn't show up. In their lover voices, of course.

"So what do you wanna do after Naruto doesn't show up, Saucy-kun?" She inquired, as if asking an infant, 'who's a happy baby?'

Sasuke rebutted, "I haven't the faintie-weintest, my sweet little Sakura-chan. What would you like to do?" as if he were cuddling and praising a puppy.

"I dunno know, what do YOU wanna do?"

"Nuh-uh-uh. You first, boo-boo cuddle-muffin.."

"But Saucy-foofy-kins, I just picked the movie-woovie we saw the other day, pookie-bear."

"And you always make the best choicy-woices, puddin' pop! I'll just do whatever you command from now on, sweetheart."

"But goo-goo-pie, what about the time that I switched our lunchy-wunches and ate all your tomato-watoes?"

"They were only some 'wittle veggie-weggies, snuggle-bunny. You deserve to do whatever you want, bunny-bo-bo-boo."

"But Saucy-wassy-sweety-pie-snuggly-bear-koo-key-kins-baby-boo-fluffy-fa-.."

"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY?!"

(A/N: Sorry. I had to make them a bit ooc right there. Never again, okay? It was just to add humor. It's funny because they would never do something like that in the story. I wanted to convey how in love they are. Humorously. Please don't bite my head off. I JUST CAN'T HELP MYSELF SOMETIMES!!)

The pair stopped cooing and giving each other Eskimo kisses to glare at Naruto with dangerously narrowed eyes.

"Oh, never mind. He's here." Sasuke stated rather coldly.

"I need your advice! Don't you two remember that I have a serious problem here?"

"Of course, Naruto. How could we forget? You were brooding more than Sasuke-kun the other day. Not as angsty and uncaring as Sasuke-kun's brooding, but brooding nonetheless." Sakura commented.

Naruto ignored the strange way that she put Sasuke's angst on a pedestal and continued. "Yeah, well my problem is about Hinata."

Sasuke and Sakura turned their heads to look at each other, eyes as wide as saucers, both with 'Oh-my-god-Naruto-has-finally-realized-that-Hinata-has-feelings-for-him-and-he-returns-those-feelings-so-it-must-be-the-apocalypse-the-final-judgement-day-is-approaching!' looks on their faces.

Then that look was replaced by an exchange of skeptical glances. It couldn't be. This was Naruto they were talking about. I mean, pfft… come ON.

But nonetheless, they treated it as a real situation. Naruto needed some sibling guidance badly.

Sakura moved to Naruto's side so the blonde was now in the middle. Both of them turned in to give him very serious stares. They had to get to the bottom of this.

Naruto was officially scared. "W-What did I say?" She sputtered with wide eyes.

"Naruto" Sakura started, voice deadly serious. "What is happening with you and Hinata?"

"Well, I don't really know. That's why I need your help. So far…" Naruto proceeded to explain the method he used and the conclusion he had come to the previous night. (Just read his thought process in the last chapter, people.)

So, Sasuke and Sakura now put on their OMG faces, which quickly changed to faces saying, "Why are we not surprised…"

Then Sakura gave a long sigh and started speaking like she was teaching a five year old.

"Naruto. Let me just start by saying that you are the single most think-headed, numbskull moron I have ever met, and hopefully will ever meet."

Having heard this from her many times before, Naruto just became confused.

"And what have I done to deserve that title THIS time, huh?"

She sighed again. "Listen, when you went through the steps, I don't think that they were meant for all…" She looked over to Sasuke, eyes begging for a good word.

"Situations." Sasuke replied bluntly.

Naruto glared back at this mutinous speak.

"Are you saying that the great sannin Jiraiya's most flawless thinking techniques aren't perfectly functioning in many situations?!"

Sakura shrunk back defensively, knowing that his sensei was a touchy subject.

"It's not that at all Naruto," She began. "I just don't think that you really understood the steps he told you. I don't think that he realized that you wouldn't have an accurate comparison. Or maybe your feelings don't come from enough interaction with the 'subject' for you to make an accurate conclusion! Or maybe you misinterpreted your feelings or perhaps… Naruto, do you think that you could have missed a step at the-"

Sasuke cut her off, seeing that Sakura was only going to confuse him further if she continued.

"Listen, Naruto."

He spoke sternly with all seriousness. He caught Sakura's glance from behind Naruto that clearly said "Don't say ANYTHING, he HAS to figure it out by himself." He sighed, wishing he could just get it over with and save everyone some grief, but he was a bit whipped, so complied by just giving brotherly advice.

"Firstly, you haven't spent even a total of TEN HOURS actually thinking and conversing with Hinata. Go find her, spend some REAL time observing her, and come back with your problem in a week or two."

Naruto then protested at this.

"But how can I do that when she always feints for no reason when I say random things?"

Sasuke slapped his forehead and made an annoyed frustrated noise.

"Naruto, you're capable of figuring it out if you really put your mind to it. Just THINK about it! And secondly, If I employed ANY of the 'thinking techniques' that Orochimaru taught me, my life would be one fucked up piece of shit. Both literally and figuratively."

Naruto was about to beg Sakura to explain what she and Sasuke knew that he didn't, but just as he was about to grovel, he felt a hand tap at his shoulder.

He turned around and encountered Kotetsu. The "all business" Kotetsu, that is, with a look on his face that meant, well… business… and formal stuffs. He was obviously in no mood to chat. Which they probably wouldn't have done anyway since no one really knew Kotetsu that well. Except Izumo, who wasn't here at the moment. Naruto started to wonder where Izumo was, and then wondered why, if they were jounin, they never seemed to do anything that utilized their skills. Did they have any skills? What did they like to do with their free time? Did they have any hobbi-

"Ah-hem." Apparently Kotetsu had noticed when Naruto went off on an inner tangent. Naruto paid attention as he spoke, seriously.

"Hokage-sama requests your presence. You have a new assignment."

Naruto smiled. "Arigatou, Kotetsu-san."

To that Kotetsu nodded slightly and 'poof'-ed away. Naruto turned back to Sasuke and Sakura, who were sitting together again (when did that happen?) and stood up.

"Well today's to be my lucky day!" He boasted. "All I need is a good mission to clear my head and in a few short days this'll be a thing of the past!" He grinned and also 'poof'-ed away.

To that Sasuke and Sakura just look at each other and sighed. At least they had a few days to think about how they were going to fix this now.

AT THE HOKAGE TOWER:

Hinata sat uncomfortably in the lumpy chair in the Hokage's office. Her eyes shifted nervously around the room from Tsunade, now grinning smugly, to the client, an old man with an aura of senility and naivety about him, to her feet and surrounding floor, then back to Tsunade's grin again.

Izumo had told Hinata originally that she'd been going on a solo mission and to report to the Hokage's office immediately. She had been relieved that she wasn't going to be with Naruto again, even though she longed to spend time with him every waking minute. She was just sick and tired of always humiliating herself with failed confessions, incoherent stuttering, awkward (for her) silences, and an ever-unaware Naruto. She was almost positive that he must've hated her by now.. (A/N: ROFLMAO!1!11 XD) She was happy to get away from that for a while, but found to her dismay that she was to have a partner on this assignment upon arriving at Tsunade's office.

In Hinata's opinion, Tsunade was very kindhearted woman. She did support her when in came to Naruto, but often times expressed this support in an almost sadistic fashion. A twist of a shoulder to 'accidentally' send Naruto crashing into her chest, a wink, elbow nudge, or suggestive gesture in public here or there, and maybe even a innuendo or two when no one could hear just to see her blush until she passes out. But in Hinata's opinion, the weeks of missions they had been on together had been a little over the line. It wasn't like it was helping her get anywhere, (A/N: O-OH! Where do you think Hinata wants to get? LOLZ.) and the humiliation in front of her love was unbearable.

She knew what Tsunade was planning from the minute she was assigned to a second mission in a row with Naruto, so she had been preparing.

Hinata believed that the mental exercises and hypothetical situations were really starting to help her. She had been slowly trying to train herself to be more outgoing for a while, talking in her mind to no one at first, talking to herself, then to clones, and she finally felt that she had a beginner's grip on the situation. She was nowhere near what Tsunade was asking her to do NOW, though.

For two weeks, they would be traveling from this "Holy Man's" nearby shrine to a very religious city in the mountains of stone country to deliver his rescript to an important political agenda, including advanced defense tactics. The scrolls contained methods of guarding some of the most sacred relics of the stone country, which were housed in the city. They were to protect the scroll at all costs.

While Hinata didn't doubt the success of this mission, (she and Naruto were very capable jounin, and this assignment for them would have been suspicious if the client had not been willing to pay a substantial fee for the peace of mind that capable ninja bring.) she was just very frightened of what she might do this time if all her preparations fell to pieces around Naruto.

Hinata shook those thoughts out of mind. It was too soon to start doubting herself! She was being handed a generous opportunity by the hokage herself, and this was no time to let another opportunity pass her by. She was going to fight for her love, dammit! She would fight for him, grab him, tame him, and make him hers, ONCE AND FOR ALL!

She sat up straight with fiery determination in her eyes she would not give in!

Suddenly, a figure burst through the doors, and shattered the silence in the office.

"I CAME AS SOON AS I COULD OBAA-SAN! (A/N: see? he's more polite now.) WHATEVER MISSION YOU HAVE FOR ME, CONSIDER IT DONE!"

The voice Hinata so adored obliterated all of her fearless thoughts. She instantly became wide-eyed, a small blush on her cheeks, and turned her head quickly to see it's owner, the tall, blonde man who would always walk into a room with complete confidence and smash hers to bits.

Hinata gave a tiny squeak, moved her head back towards Tsunade's desk, and resumed her normal habit of shrinking back into her oversized coat while blushing and poking her index fingers together. She mentally kicked herself for allowing this to continue.

"Well how nice of you to drop by Naruto." Tsunade said with annoyance obvious in her voice. "Could you arrive on time even once so as not to keep our clients waiting?"

"W-well... y-you see..." Naruto stuttered. Impatient Tsunade was the third meanest Tsunade there was. Behind Hangover Tsunade and scolding Naruto Tsunade. Those were infinitely more vengeful.

"Well?" Tsunade demanded.

"Well.." Naruto rubbed the back of his head and looked at her apologetically. "I had to finish my ramen...?" He tried for acceptance of the alibi. The truth, but an inconvenient one. (A/N: LOL)

A vein popped on Tsunade's forehead. "Since when does it take you that long to finish RAMEN?" She moved to get up and pound his face in when she heard the client chuckle from his seat.

"OH! It's quite all right!" the holy man laughed. "I actually dozed off there about three minutes after the young lady came in! It was no trouble at all!" All present sweat-dropped. "Besides, this young man seems to be honestly sorry for the inconvenience!"

Tsunade sighed as sat back in her seat. She locked eyes with Naruto, who was now standing next to where Hinata was sitting. "Naruto, you and Hinata's mission is to deliver a very important scroll for Satoru-Sama" She gestured to the holy man "all the way to a city in the mountains that border Stone country. The scroll contains defense matters of the utmost importance to the safety of the city, Understand?"

"Hai." Replied Naruto and Hinata simultaneously.

Naruto looked to his left, surprised, and stared down at the face of a very red, very nervous Hyuuga Hinata.

"Wait, Hinata's going to be my partner again?" Naruto asked Tsunade bluntly. Tsunade slapped her hand to her face.

"You haven't been listening to me, have you?"

"Yes I have!" Naruto defended. "I just didn't realize that Hinata was here, too..." He gestured to Hinata who had just been crushed. How could he not see her? She was sitting right in front of him the entire time! She was never going to be acknowledged by him...

"I mean, this is like the tenth mission we've been on together in the last month!" Naruto continued. He didn't really argue about getting missions with her before, in fact he had enjoyed them, but now that he knew that they were arch nemesis, the dynamic would be completely different.

"Naruto! How dare you question the Hokage's judgement! Go pack for two weeks, and be ready at the gate by 12!" Tsunade pointed an accusatory finger at the door.

Hinata's judgement told her it was time to leave, but as she stood up, Naruto asked Tsunade a question that made her freeze.

"Obaa-chan, what could you POSSIBLY gain from partnering Hinata and I up for almost every mission?!"

To that, Tsunade grinned an evil, sadistic grin, glanced at Hinata for a split second then back to Naruto, and in a voice dripping with sarcasm replied, "It's simple Naruto. You and Hinata are both such talented Ninja that I couldn't resist playing matchmaker and seeing the amazing little blond-haired byakugan babies you would make." No sooner than the words were muttered did a loud 'thump' sounded in the office and Hinata was laying in a heap on the floor. Naruto was unfazed by Tsunade's sarcastic remark, but stared down, surprised, at Hinata's bizarre reaction.

"NOW GO TAKE HINATA HOME AND BE AT THE GATE BY 12!!" She screamed.

Naruto was scared out of his mind by this point, so he scoped Hinata up quickly, and ran out of Tsunade's office as fast as he could.

He stopped and reveled in the irony that he was now carrying someone he hated bridal-style to her house.


End file.
